RIP. A weekly roundup of releases on Bandcamp and Soundcloud selected and delivered by Aidan
Good afternoon. So January is basically over. It hasn’t felt as long as March 2020 but it’s been a slog. I finally got around to doing a podcast this week. It’s here. I’m also back on Dublin Digital Radio this Sunday night. I’m positively drowning in new music right now so expect a lot of it.
PapaLordGod - VILE/EVIL Parts 1-3
Quite frankly, this sounds like a chainsaw or a lawnmower underwater. Whether that’s machinery operating underwater or the sound of said machinery heard from underwater, I don’t know. The latter is probably more feasible but it’s kind of irrelevant because the actual sound comes from “electronics & mobile phone”. It was recorded in 2017 and released on 3” CD-R late last year.
Spritely yet deep techno from Tokyo, released on a label based in Chernobyl. Allegedly. The producer was previously in a post-punk/new wave band and moved from there into techno sounds. Incredible pathway.
Javonntte - MCWR008 // Abstract Love / Star Talk
The opening track here is nice, a gurgling vibey house track with various vocal samples, real grace and warmth on show. The second track is the real star, however (pun not intended). A soft and floating M1 melody runs throughout, the words “and I know you are the one” sung lazily over shuffling beats and alternating stabs and chords. Beautifully emotive, sounds love lost or held. It builds with these piano sounds that call to mind any era you can think of. I just finished a mix for a guest spot on someone’s radio show that features classic house sounds from the 80s to today, and if I’d heard this sooner I probably would have featured it too. It’s lush.
The 23rd Podcast #33 - Salvador Horen
This is a deeply atmospheric “minimal” podcast from Medellín-based Salvador Hören. There are points where plodding beats are surrounded by ear-splitting hiss, where these same beats give way to inhuman voices and distorted guitar wails. It’s a trip.
Keeping up with the black and yellow theme, here is a live album from The NRG, “"the long lost 90’s kings of Stadium Ambient™”. Not really. It’s all made up. Sounds like an Orb/KLF tribute. There’s even a track called The KLF on the album. I was talking to Brad Rose about that Jürgen Müller Science of the Sea album released on Digitalis 10 years back. It was sold as the work of a sort of Jacques Cousteau-type with an interest in new age music, whose music had been lost to the seas (ho ho) of time, until being rediscovered and reissued. It even got best new reissue from Pitchfork. Only it was nothing of the sort. It was a carefully created backstory and the music was from Norm Chambers, aka Panabrite. One comment on Discogs read as follows: “Music is good but I could have done without the hipster fairy tale missing long lost synthesizer extravaganza bs!!” The NRG isn’t bothered with fooling anyone, however, as their story changes tack by its fourth par.
Born out of a product of fun, ambition and a love for the 90’s, the conception of Live ‘94 - a make believe live album with added crowd sounds transports us back to a time that once was. Now in the pandemic this release has a whole new meaning; no longer is it a nod to the 90’s, but a nostalgic nod to a time when we were once able to experience live music. This album draws from all of the above elements, giving us the ultimate fake dream stadium experience.
I’m not sure who emesh is or are. This album or setlist popped up on SoundCloud and it’s an incredibly accomplished selection of tracks. Chonky, gurgly electronics, thumping sounds that borrow from 90s electronica but over beats that stomp, lightly.
C Powers - Which Ad Experience Do You Prefer?
A year after the mind-bending trance explosion that was Elijah’s Augmented, Contagion Discs returns with a four-tracker from C Powers, who’s been around a while but hasn’t quite achieved the attention they deserve. Not only are they an established DJ (with a history in drag bars) and exceptional producer, with releases on Sorry Records and Sweat Equity, they’re also a busy and committed activist and organiser. Many strings on these bows. Anyway the music is ace. Squidgy and bouncy, exciting and raw. Shades of rave, garage and all sorts of fun stuff.
object blue with Morwell - 28 January 2021
object blue invites exciting producer Morwell on to her show for an hour-long mix of his own productions. Utterly exuberant and bouncy material, building in tempo and going from slower vibes into breaks-laden hedonistic party sounds. There’s a track around 45 minutes in that pulls things to a stop with bizarrely chopped vocals and haunting melodies, with hefty breaks kicking in at half and double time. Woi. blue announces things throughout through an hilarious text-to-speech program (I think?) and her hour is filled what what she accurately describes as psychedlic sounds, albeit in a variety of shades and moods.
A short piece, made from the instruments named in the title.
I had the whole mail set and ready to go and then this dropped. Oakland crew Club Chai announced the end of their run recently, and this compilation is a fitting end for the project. It features some absolutely incredible talents, many of whom I’ve featured before, including Siete Catorce, Russell E.L. Butler, Maral, DJ Plead, Debby Friday and of course 8ULENTINA and Lara Sarkissian. The compilation features a range of club styles, and many of tracks here demonstrate a fascinating fusion of modern “dance” music with the cultures and heritages of the various artists involved. They’ve also put together a book that looks back through the years, with fliers from events, artwork from the label, photos from parties as well as writing from audience and friends. It’s a lovely addition to the mythos of the label, a real-world object with which to remember what they’ve done.
tobirarecs - Rumours 1 fragment
An abstract and unsettling piece of ~ambience~ I guess.
This mix is great because it starts with a bang but moves back and forth. It doesn’t get harder as it goes, rather it breathes, flows. It’s full of fizzling, pulsating and daring electro acid sounds, but it manages to feature a range of emotions and styles within that framework. Check out his album if you get the chance.
I’m not sure if this producer is 16 or 18 years old (I’ve seen both) but he’s young. The sounds are quite accomplished though, with throbbing, heaving beats that belie his youth. It’s true warehouse techno with both warmth and edge, making you think it’s the work of a seasoned pro. I found this interview from last year if you’re interested in learning more.
Florian T M Zeisig - Music For Parents
Finally this week, this is something that I couldn’t possibly let slide. When I saw the title I thought it was for people like me; you know, ambient fans who have small children. In fact, it was written for the artist’s own parents. It was inspired by their purchase of a vibroacoustic mattress to help their sleep issues. That led to research and experiments in the area of acoustic sound therapy. The album features music that can aid low-frequency sound therapy, and apparently “can be paired with a vibroacoustic mattress or wearable bass device to enhance a listener's experience of the low frequencies”. Amazing. Personally, I just like the sounds. The tracks drift with beautiful slowness, expanding and developing across their run-time.
PS. This interview with DeForrest Brown, Jr. is essential reading.